Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0For recorded crime, Medford sits in the middle of U.S. towns
Out of every 1,000 residents, 1.8 violent crimes and 10.4 incidents of property crime are reported annually, against 3.0 and 10.3 in the rest of Massachusetts. What’s more, its letter overall is B− (#188 of 276 graded towns in Massachusetts): close to the middle of U.S. towns, from crimes its police reported through 2023 to 2025. Of the 6 towns on its borders with figures, 3 record less crime per resident.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of MA” is every other Massachusetts city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Medford
3 of the 6 graded towns next door report less crime
Of the 6 Massachusetts towns on Medford’s borders, 6 have a Safety Grade: Winchester (A), Arlington (A−), Stoneham (B+), Malden (C+), Somerville (C+), Everett (C). Neighbors ↓
Among Massachusetts towns, closer to the middle
Massachusetts’ cities and towns report less crime than most states’, so Medford’s place among its own towns differs from its national one: it reports less crime than 32% of the 276 Massachusetts towns we grade, against 52% nationally. Safety Grade ↓
A college town
Medford is home to Tufts University, with 12,718 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 11% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Medford’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Property crime holds Medford’s grade up; violent crime pulls it down. Its violent rate (1.8) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Medford | Rest of Massachusetts | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.7 | 3.2 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.9 | 3.1 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Medford’s police reported 345 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.8 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Medford per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Medford property | Rest of Massachusetts property | Medford violent | Rest of Massachusetts violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 9.4 | 10.5 | 1.7 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 10.1 | 10.9 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| 2024 | 12.0 | 10.3 | 1.8 | 3.0 |
| 2025 | 9.3 | 9.8 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Massachusetts.
665 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
108 violent and 557 property, as reported to the FBI by Medford’s police.
11 people died in crashes on Medford’s roads in 2019–2023
Medford had 11 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died; 1 was a pedestrian. 4 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 3.7 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Massachusetts towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.0, 86 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Medford and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | B− | 1.8 | 10.4 |
| Somerville | C+ | 2.2 | 15.7 |
| Malden | C+ | 2.5 | 12.6 |
| Arlington | A− | 0.7 | 4.5 |
| Everett | C | 3.5 | 13.1 |
| Winchester | A | 0.2 | 4.0 |
| Stoneham | B+ | 1.2 | 7.7 |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Massachusetts towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | B− | 1.8 | 10.4 |
| Brookline | B+ | 1.0 | 8.0 |
| Weymouth Town | B− | 2.6 | 8.2 |
| Peabody | B− | 2.7 | 7.7 |
| Taunton | C | 4.3 | 9.2 |
| Revere | C | 3.9 | 13.6 |
The five graded Massachusetts towns closest to Medford’s population (59,834), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Medford. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Medford’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (59,842 in 2025); our figure for Medford is 59,834 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Medford
Is Medford, MA safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Medford reports less crime per resident than 52% of U.S. towns, a B− Safety Grade and #188 of 276 in Massachusetts. Its police reported 1.8 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.0 in the rest of Massachusetts and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Medford?
1.8 violent and 10.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Massachusetts reports 3.0 and 10.3; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
How many homicides were there in Medford in 2025?
Medford’s police reported 0 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 0.0 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Medford safer than Somerville?
Somerville reports more crime per resident than Medford: Somerville grades C+ for safety and Medford B−. Somerville’s police reported 2.2 violent and 15.7 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Medford?
Medford’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Medford”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Medford.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.